Description:
Book Matters closely analyses these questions and others. Alan Sica surmises that the concentration span required for studying and discussing complex texts has slipped away, as undergraduate classes are becoming inundated by shorter, easier-to-teach scholarly and literary works.
Review Quotes:
"Bibliophile, virtuoso editor, and passionate advocate for engaging sociological writing, Alan Sica explains eloquently why books matter in the "digital age." He illustrates the value of the written word and joy of reading by traversing in rich biographical and historical context a diverse swath of exemplars of the best writing, editing, and thinking by social theorists, public intellectuals, and critics for more than a century."
--Robert Antonio, University of Kansas
"Alan Sica loves books--physical, ink-on-paper, bound books. He also loves libraries that preserve these books, publishers who print them, and reviewers who critically engage them. Book Matters is an impassioned attempt to pry us away from our distracting electronic devices. But this is not a rant by a curmudgeonly Luddite. Sica is a scholar, and his book is a paean to the art of careful reading. Like the "slow food" movement, he champions "slow reading." For Sica, reading is more like a sacrament than a diversion. He delights in the discovery of forgotten texts, not because there is nothing new under the sun, but because scholarship depends on a deep understanding of what came before. Taking ideas seriously requires a critical engagement with historical works, even if this means spending time deciphering dusty volumes by vilified authors from the past. This witty and learned book is a fiery plea to sit down and read."
--Christine Williams, University of Texas at Austin
"Alan Sica, himself a fabled editor and bibliophile, has produced an unusual work--a writerly meditation on reading, authorship, reviewing, and teaching--by way of examples of serious books about social topics by academics and the "public intellectuals" of the twentieth century. It recalls the great days of the printed book and those who sustained its culture, but it is more than a lament or momento mori: it is also a call to preserve what remains."
--Stephen Turner, University of South Florida